


The Core of the Problem

by Marksman18



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update, Trans Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters Gets Therapy, danny is Afraid, nonbinary tucker, trans Vlad Masters, tucker uses he/him pronouns bc he vibes with those, vlad flips his goddam shit and destroys shit, vlad is only impersonating a functional person he is Not one, vlads not mayor hes just a business man, well sporadic updates is more accurate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28746006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marksman18/pseuds/Marksman18
Summary: Among the ghosts with elemental cores, different powers are easier to control than others, and different types develop faster than others. Ice and water for instance aren't that strong at first and develop at a steady rate, but their powers are relatively easy to master. Fire cores, however, can develop quickly and are notoriously difficult to control, especially at higher power levels. This is especially true for the incredibly powerful wildfire core, and poor coping mechanisms by those with this type can have disastrous results.Too bad Plasmius's coping mechanisms aren't actually helping him. Not like those blocks of downtown were needed in Amity, anyways.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Vlad Masters & Walter Weston
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

Vlad irritably drummed his fingers on the meeting table in front of him with his right hand and repeatedly clicked his pen with his left. Everyone in this board meeting seemed to be conspiring to drive him insane. They were arguing loudly over- over whatever it was that this meeting was about, Vlad had already forgotten what, and seemed to be deliberately refusing to come to any kind of agreement. Vlad was pretty sure two of them were arguing over _lunch plans_ while the rest of the room were verbally at each other's throats. Vlad felt himself slipping into the breathing exercises that he'd learned in a court mandated anger management class, but forced himself back into the almost painfully shallow breaths he prefered to take when he could feel his core flaring up. Yes, the deep breathing helped to clear his mind, but it also made the fire inside him burn hotter, and he couldn't risk letting that fire get hot enough to start seeping out and searing his surroundings. His grip tightened on his pen, his thumb pressing on the top of it until the metal began to give way under the heat and strength of the pressing digit, bending until the ink cartridge snapped and the pen fell apart, spilling the now steaming ink across the paper. 

"Mr. Masters? Sir?" One of them said to him, and only then did the halfa realize that the room had gone quiet and everyone was staring at him.

" _What?_ " Vlad snapped, then took a deep breath and ignored how it stoked the flame, and set the pen down and dragged his right hand down his face. "I apologize, I think i just need some fresh air."

The person who had questioned him gave him a nervous look, but shakily muttered an "Okay," and then the rest of the group began to finally agree on something; to take a break from this meeting and come back and deal with things after an hour. Vlad stood and left the room before the man suggesting what everyone was readily agreeing to had even finished speaking. The halfa speed walked down the hall towards the elevator, then remembered that he should probably inform his assistant that he was leaving and genuinely had no intentions of returning at all that day, and maybe not even for the rest of the week. He made a sharp turn to the left and walked in a way that had every person he encountered leaping (sometimes _literally_ ) out of his way as he stormed to his office. 

When he entered the room just outside his office, Walter Weston's head shot up from his paperwork.

"Mr. Masters?"

"I'm going home, Mr. Weston. I don't intend to return today and there's a high chance I'll be out for the rest of the week."

"Understood. Your eyes are glowing, by the way. Try to make sure this building's out of your blast radius when you finally explode, ok?"

" _Fudge buckets_ ," Vlad muttered and closed his eyes, rubbing at them hard and trying to get them to stop glowing. "Thank you for informing me of that, Walter." The halfa turned on his heel and exited.

"Try not to make any more interns think you're a demon from hell, Vlad."

"I make no promises."

The halfa stormed out of the room and towards the elevator. Once inside, he slammed his hand on the close doors button with so much force that it cracked, and the person about to step into the elevator rethought his movements. Vlad dragged his hand through his hair, pulling slightly at the roots in hopes of distracting himself from the rage boiling in his veins. It didn't work the way he intended, he only managed to anger himself further by completely messing up his hair. The halfa snarled and let loose a string of mixed swears, some his usual pastry-based curses, others creative (and violent) real curses in Russian, Latin, and Ectovox. He glared vengefully at the little electronic screen that displayed the floor numbers as it slowly, _painfully_ slowly, showed lower and lower numbers until the elevator at long last dinged to signal it had reached the ground floor and the halfa stormed out into the hallway towards the lobby. Unbeknownst to him, an intern stood shaking in terror in the corner of the elevator, having just heard their boss ranting to himself in some kind of supernatural sounding language. The intern slowly slid down the wall until they were sitting, clutching their armful of folders and papers they were supposed to be dealing with, and fainted.

* * *

Vlad drummed his fingers on his steering wheel and felt his eye twitch. Trapped in traffic, after having been so angry that he made three wrong turns in a row and was now on the opposite side of town instead of almost home. Oh, how he wished he could melt every single car around him and go home. _No!_ He mentally berated himself as he shook his head and took a few more shallow breaths to try and tame that fire in his core, _Bad Vlad! No melting cars!_ Traffic was finally moving ever so slightly, the mass of cars managed to move forward a whole two feet before once again coming to a standstill! 

He had been sitting here. In traffic. Stewing in his rage. For. Over. An. _Hour_ . What could _possibly_ be causing this kind of traffic jam!?!?

It was another twelve minutes and thirty-six seconds (Vlad counted each second in hopes of distracting himself from his rage, he failed) before the silver haired halfa got his answer.

Daniel. Of course, it _had to be_ **_Daniel._ ** Fighting a ghostly creature easily fifteen times his size. 

Vlad was going to kill something. He wasn't sure what, he wasn't sure how. He just knew, something was going to die today. He didn't notice that his car had gotten so hot the windows were fogging over, nor did he notice that his grip was melting the steering wheel. He only felt that burning fire that was his core flare higher and hotter than it had all week, and transformed and shot out through the roof of his car, not bothering to even phase through it, just bursting right out and towards the fight.

* * *

Danny was panting and attempting to come up with some kind of pun to make this fight feel a little less insanely one-sided. The massive ghost had been causing problems and gnawing on buildings, and was now putting up quite the fight. He almost wished that he'd stayed in class instead of chasing this ghost all the way downtown. _Almost._ Danny and the ghost both turned to face the sound of an enraged roar. The young halfa was shocked to see Plasmius, breathing heavily and huffing out billowing flames from his mouth, floating not far from the fight and staring directly at the large ghost Danny had been fighting. Vlad looked _pissed._

"Wow," the teen muttered, "Didn't think _you'd_ ever let go of that stupid calm lie." The older halfa didn't even seem to notice his presence, instead lunging with a loud shriek at the large ghost, retractable fangs and claws extended and fire pouring from his mouth and covering his arms and hands. Danny stared on in awe for a moment, now noting that Vlad's hair wasn't floating like it was in water or simply laying flat like usual, but instead was pitch black flames burning high and his horns seemed to have flames dancing on them too. Wow. The younger halfa watched as Plasmius tore into the side of the massive ghost, slashing it open and clawing and biting and burning everything in sight, snarling and shrieking as he went. _Wow,_ Danny thought, _Vlad's really going apeshit on that ghost. Wait, what's he gonna do once he's done with it? Oh,_ **_shit_ ** _. I should really get these civilians out of here._ And with that thought, the teenage halfa rocketed down and began yelling that the people needed to get out of their cars and _run._ His second shouting of this was punctuated by Vlad slamming the massive ghost down on the road and then sinking in his claws and dragging it back into the sky so he could do it again, and significantly more people listened to the second one. Danny flinched hard as he heard the wet sound of something being ripped off and the massive ghost shrieking. The white haired halfa yelped as a large glob of something hit him in the back. He reached his hand back to wipe at it, and his hand came away bright green. _Ectoplasm_ . Danny slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, and then _deeply_ regretted it. The massive ghost was now a struggling mess of dripping ectoplasm and large gashes as Plasmius tore it apart, all snarling and aflame. The older halfa himself was drenched in ectoplasm, the reds and oranges of his suit and trench coat almost entirely hidden in the bright green mess. Danny bit back a scream as a large (and _burning_ ) chunk of the giant ghost was thrown his direction and he bolted to follow the retreating civilians as the last few stragglers ran for their lives.

It was terrifying, even from a distance. Watching Vlad fall into so powerful a ghostly rage. Danny realized he was shaking only when a kid, only a few years younger than himself, asked him if he was okay.

"I'm-" The halfa took a shaking breath, "I'm ok, everyone got out ok, right? We're all ok. We're all ok. I just- I've never- Plasmius, he- I always thought that his calm act and his outfit were part of some noir but fire aesthetic he was going for but now I'm thinking he was just trying and failing to impersonate a functional human being- ha. Ehahaha. Oh god he's mauling- Oh my god." Phantom sat down on the ground and briefly wondered when he had floated down close enough to do so, but it was a fleeting thought as his mind once again latched firmly to the fact that Vlad was losing his goddamn shit.

"Phantom? Are- _Are_ you ok? Because you really don't seem ok." A teen he vaguely recognized had come over and placed a hand on his shoulder, his green eyes meeting Danny's own with concern.

"You seem… Familiar, somehow."

"My younger brothers fight all the time about whether or not ghosts are real and my youngest brother keeps insisting that you're a Fenton."

"Oohhhhhh, you're _Wes's_ brother, cool. You seem way more chill than both Wes and Kyle."

"Yeah, thanks. Now, seriously, how are you handling that shitshow back there?"

"I'm- I'll be ok. I-" There was an explosion and the heat from it blasted through town, before it calmed down and the violent rage of the older halfa was only evident by the loud shrieks and arching flames that clawed to the sky. "I'm worried what's gonna happen once Plasmius is done with that big guy. I've never seen him get so out of control like this, he- He's always got such a handle on his powers, even the ones he hardly ever uses. I've- He's never, never _been on fire_ like that before. He hasn't gone this _nuts_ before."

"We should _probably_ keep moving away from all… _that_ , ykno, to be safe?"

Danny nodded and stood back up. "Right. You're right," the teen then raised his voice and floated up so he could get the attention of all the people standing around, "We gotta keep going! I don't know how big Plasmius's blast radius is right now, and I don't want anyone getting hurt!"

People seemed to get the idea and started running farther away from the epicenter of the chaos that had become of that block downtown. Danny and Wes's oldest brother also began running, the redhead stopping to help every person he could alongside Danny. They _really_ needed to get everyone away, as fast as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny watched as the newscaster went on and on about the ghost attack yesterday. Well, in all honesty, "attack" wasn't quite the word for it. It was really more of a "mauling" and Danny was beyond grateful that most of the civilians had gotten away before it had gotten worse. The incident was described, while quoting one of those who witnessed it, as a "ghost attack on steroids" and Danny honestly couldn't help but find truth in that statement. He was almost surprised when one of the Guys in White ( _ Err, wait, what was their actual name? _ Danny wondered to himself, then decided he didn't care.) came onscreen to address the incident, but at the same time he kind of expected it.

_ "The ghost attack yesterday is believed to be the product of a particularly intense ghostly rage triggered in a ghost with a very powerful variant of the basic fire core, and after a rage of this caliber, the ghost will likely be very volatile and skittish. It is in everyone's best interest to avoid this ghost-"  _ A picture of Plasmius, floating in the air in a fairly dramatic pose with his trench coat flared out behind him, appeared on the screen as the operative spoke. " _ -And if it is sighted, we implore you to report it as soon as you are out of its range. Do not try to confront it, it will most likely respond with violence if it feels threatened, so if you do see it please do whatever you can to avoid drawing its attention to you or if it does notice you to make sure you present as little a threat as possible. The Ghost Integration Ward will catch this ghost before it can cause any more damage to itself or the town. Again, we must implore you to not attempt to confront this ghost yourself. That includes  _ **_you_ ** _ , Fentons!" _

Danny squinted at the TV. Did, did they really just say that GiW stood for "Ghost  _ Integration _ Ward"? Huh. Apparently so. Danny glanced to his parents. Jack was frowning in a way that Danny knew to mean he was thinking hard on something, the man's large fingers running along the barrel of an ectogun. Maddie, however, was visibly  _ seething _ . 

"I refuse to sit here and play nice if we see that violent ectoplasmic manifestation of post-human consciousness!" His mom was putting together a bazooka. Oh joy. "Come on, Jack, we're going out and finding that ghost and we'll bring it back here and take it apart molecule by molecule!"

Danny visibly tensed and found himself wishing that Jazz wasn't currently away at college so he wouldn't be so alone in his own home. Jack still had that odd contemplative look on his face.

"Mads, I don't think it'd be the best idea to go after this ghost."

That shocked both Danny and his mom into a stunned silence. Jack Fenton?  _ Not _ wanting to go after a ghost?

"Jack, what- but we- I-" Maddie couldn't seem to put together a coherent sentence, she was so flabbergasted.

"I mean it, sweetheart," the large man looked unusually somber as he spoke, "You saw what it did to those four blocks downtown, you  _ saw _ that everything was either melted or reduced to ash. If we go after it and scare it into doing something like that again-"

Maddie's face softened. "Jack," the redhead's face pinched as she slowed down and thought about how well equipped they were for this type of situation. She sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right. We don't have the equipment to survive that kind of heat."

Maddie sat back down and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was clear that sitting back and letting Plasmius be handled by the GiW was the  _ last _ thing she wanted to do, but without proper equipment, they wouldn't survive a confrontation of that caliber with him. Danny chewed on the inside of his lip. He needed to talk to Sam and Tucker,  _ now _ . But would his parents let him leave the house right now?

"Uh, Mom? Dad? I gotta go check on Sam and Tuck, like, in person," the teen said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he stood from the table. 

"Where? It's dangerous out there, Danny, we don't know where that ghost is!" Maddie looked to her son with worry. 

"It's just over at the Nasty Burger, I'll make sure we evacuate if we see a ghost, Mom, I promise."

Maddie hummed, still unsure. Jack, however, offered a small smile. "Okay, Danny Boy, be safe! Make sure you call us if you need anything, son!"

Danny smiled at his dad, gave both his parents a quick hug, and waved at them as he left. The teen sent a text to his friends to tell them to meet him at the Nasty Burger ASAP and made sure he had his thermos before exiting the house and turning in the direction of his favorite fast food joint.

* * *

_ Yesterday, 6:37pm _

Vlad groaned as he came to, slowly, his head throbbing. What exactly had happened? Where  _ was _ he? Vlad felt at the surface he was laying on. Hard. Rough. But also with a layer of something soft?  _ Ok, what's the last thing I can remember? _ Vlad sort of remembered that meeting, then he vaguely remembered driving home and missing his turn several times, but then everything after that- Oh no. Something had been the last straw during that drive. The halfa forced his eyes open, and then regretted it. It was around sunset, and he was in human form, and in the dimming light he could see the melted, ashen remains of buildings and cars, and beyond the charred ruins he could see scorch marks on the buildings that hadn't been melted down. It wasn't hard for him to put two and two together.  _ He _ did this. This was  _ his _ doing. 

"Oh, god," the halfa choked out. He looked around frantically, trying to see if anyone was coming back. When he saw no one, he quickly transformed and teleported back to his house. He needed to get  _ away _ . They'd be hunting for him, both the bolder residents of Amity and the GiW. He knew that the GiW  _ probably _ wouldn't do any unethical experiments on him. Probably. But the other ghost hunters…. 

Especially the Fentons. Jack and Maddie would tear him apart if they got ahold of him. Vlad was suddenly struck with the realization that Jack might come over to check on him at any moment, probably with detection equipment, and then best case scenario think Vlad's been overshadowed, worst case they figure Vlad out and capture and vivisect him and  _ he can't get cut open again.  _ No. Not again. He refused to allow a repeat of what happened with that overzealous group of doctors who were certain he'd die anyway. He wasn't sure he could sue his attackers this time, few (if any) lawyers would be willing to take the case of someone who melted several city blocks, regardless of what horrors happened to them afterwards. Vlad's heart leapt into his throat and his core burned hotter again as his panic rose. 

The halfa zipped around his house, gathering things that he wasn't willing to leave behind as his mind formed a hasty plan to hide in the Ghost Zone for the foreseeable future. He grabbed a few of his books and some things that would be very bad if they were discovered by the wrong people, cramming all his notes on himself and his abilities into one suitcase was a pain, but he managed it. Now, where was- There was a curious meow to his left, and as he looked to his cat, he realized that he hadn't thought through how dangerous going to the Ghost Zone would be for her. He couldn't hide her in his lair in the Ghost Zone, he wouldn't be able to get her food there, even though most ghosts would be unlikely to dare try and enter his lair. He couldn't just leave her here, who would take care of her, feed her, keep her company? He tenderly gathered the fluffy cat into his arms and purred at her, she purred back and seemed to somehow understand that something serious was happening as she nuzzled him and stared at him with wide, almost worried-looking eyes. The halfa sighed heavily. He needed somewhere he could leave her that she'd be safe, someone he could trust. Vlad didn't trust anybody, and there was nowhere he trusted to be safe for her.

Wait, there was  _ one _ person Vlad trusted. One person who had never betrayed him or neglected a pet or child, as far as he knew. Vlad made a duplicate to go grab the cat carrier and another to go gather all of Madison's toys, treats, and food. He swiftly phased her into the carrier (ignoring her irritation at being turned intangible as best he could despite how her upset yowling made his heart clench) and sent a few duplicates to take his things to his lair as he took a deep breath and transformed back to human, and teleported to the alley behind a very specific house.

Walter Weston was making sure all three of his sons were home, safe and sound, when the doorbell rang. He looked towards it and patted Easton on the shoulder as he got up from the couch to see who was there, the nineteen year old was slightly shaken up after having witnessed part of that ghost attack earlier that day, and Walter just hoped that there were  _ two _ ghosts with green skin, red eyes, horns, a fire motif, and fire powers.

He peeked out the peephole and was somewhat shocked to find his employer standing on his doorstep looking very panicked and holding a pet carrier and a few overflowing bags of things that he assumed were for whatever was in the carrier. The redhead scrambled to unlock and open the door.

"Mr. Masters? What-"

His employer and occasional drinking buddy cut him off. "I'm really sorry to do this to you, Walter, but I need you to watch my cat for a while."

"So it  _ was _ you, wasn't it?" Walter's tone was tired, and tinged with a slight hint of worry.

Vlad cringed, "I'm sorry! I tried to keep it under wraps but something happened on the drive home and- and well. You already know what happened."

"Yeah, my oldest was there, you scared him shitless, Vlad." While Walter liked being friends(ish) with his boss and using his first name and calling him out on his bullshit, this was not the situation he'd had in mind for the next time he called him by his first name.

Vlad had a look of utter terror on his face. "Oh god- I didn't- He's- Is he-"

"He's fine, Vlad, just shaken. Phantom got him outta there."

The silver haired man let out a relieved breath, then lifted up the pet carrier. "You've met Madison, she doesn't outright despise you and that's more than anyone else, and I can't bring her with me where I'm going. It's too dangerous. I'll make sure you're well compensated for her care, and for your time."

"Sure, I'll take care of her," Walter carefully accepted the carrier, as well as the bags, "Can I ask where you're going?"

Vlad shook his head, "The less you know, the better. If you don't have that information you can't be accused of obstruction or harboring."

"Do I even  _ want _ to know what you mean by that?"

"No. Now, I'm so sorry to do this to you, but I need to run." The half ghost gave him an apologetic look, and then vanished. Walter sighed and turned back into his house, setting down the overfilled bags and locking the door.

"Dad? Who was that?" Wes asked as Kyle pointed at the cat carrier, "What's that?"

"Well, my boss is going to be… Gone, for a while, and he needed me to take care of his cat," the redheaded man set the carrier down and opened it. The fluffy white cat meowed curiously as she crept out to look at her new surroundings. "Hey, Madison," Walter said to the cat, and she turned a stare that was a certain kind of scrutinizing only available to cats and Vlad Masters, "You remember me, right? You're gonna be staying here with me for a while. Don't scratch my kids."

The cat meowed and turned her scrutiny to his three sons. There was a tense moment where the cat stared at the three teens and the three boys stared between the cat and their dad in silence. It was only broken when Easton stepped into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of lunch meat out of the fridge, brought it back out, and crouched down and held it out to the cat. Madison sniffed it almost snobbishly, before she meowed and nibbled at the meat.

Kyle turned and went to his room with a quick, "Well, I'm bored. Gonna go to my room now," thrown over his shoulder. Wes slumped onto the couch and began scrolling through his phone. Walter wished he could be sure he was scrolling something  _ other _ than ghost forums and local news outlets for information. The redheaded man decided to go through the bags and see what was what as his sons dispersed and did their own thing, Wes on the couch obsessing over ghosts (in a rather ghost-like manner, if Walter had learned anything at all about ghost obsessions), Kyle in his room doing whatever it was that he did when he was alone, and Easton now sitting on the floor scratching the cat between the ears.

* * *

Danny entered the Nasty Burger and spotted his friends already seated at their usual booth. He joined them with a small, "Hey," and a deep breath.

"So, what happened yesterday, with Plasmius?" Sam's voice was low and concerned, her black painted nails drumming nervously on the table.

"He just- He just lost his shit. I don't even know what caused it. One minute I was in a one-sided fight with a ghost like a hundred times my size, the next Plasmius is literally  _ exploding _ into the air and  _ mauling _ the bigger ghost! I'm just glad he didn't even seem to  _ notice _ me," Danny dragged a hand down his face and slumped back in the seat.

"Yeah, imagine how bad it'd be if he saw you."

"Tucker!"

"What!? It's true! You saw the news, Sam. If that frootloop had gotten ahold of Danny while he was like that  _ he wouldn't be here right now _ . I'm entitled to a bit of delayed panic!" Tucker crossed his arms and glared right back at the goth as they both subconsciously shifted closer to Danny on the other side of the table.

Danny gulped and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Wow, Sam, I think that's the least amount of makeup I've seen you in since middle school," he said in hopes of changing the subject.

Sam snorted, "Well  _ yeah. _ I was barely able to brush my hair this morning, the fact that I was able to convince myself to put on eyeliner and lipstick is incredible. I was  _ worried _ , Danny."

No such luck. "I'm  _ sorry, _ ok? I had a mental breakdown out there  _ while _ it was happening! Oh, also, did you know that Wes has an older brother  _ other _ than Kyle? Met him yesterday."

"Really?" Sam gladly took the opportunity to change the subject from them to someone else entirely.

"Is he crazy too?"

"He's actually pretty chill, not like,  _ stoner _ chill like Kyle, but like,  _ actually _ chill, chill. Helped me get people out of there."

"Wow, nice," Sam said, then she sighed, "I'm gonna grab a salad so they can't accuse us of loitering and not buying anything. Anybody want anything?"

"I'm not all that hungry right now," Danny said as he laid his head down on the table and put his hands on the back of his head to block out the light with his arms.

Tucker sighed, "A large fry. I don't have much of an appetite either, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hungry at all."

Sam nodded and got up to go get the food while Tucker and Danny sat there in silence. When Sam got back and handed Tucker his fries, she looked at the halfa and sighed.

"How about when we leave, before we go home, we all stop by Brewed Awakening and I'll buy."

Danny's head shot up so fast Sam was sure he'd get whiplash, a small grin on his face. "And you  _ won't _ get mad if I get an iced Eclipse?"

"I won't get mad if you get an iced Eclipse. Tuck, what about you?"

Tucker thought for a moment, chewing his fries slowly and deliberately, then after finishing his mouthful, said, "Might go for a Spider Bite frappé, maybe with a strawberry drizzle."

"Did you really just decide what you want  _ before  _ getting there and spending no less than ten minutes staring at the menu before finally ordering the exact same thing you always get?" Sam teased with a smirk as she stabbed at her salad with her fork.

"I'd throw this fry at you if I didn't like fries so much," Tucker said, brandishing a fry like one would a small knife, before proving his point about liking fries and eating it. This pulled a small laugh from Danny and Sam, and Tucker grinned at having lightened the mood, if only a little.


End file.
